Game Development Based on Experience/1.4.3
Correctly aligning the focus sliders is essential to making a highly-rated game. The needs of the sliders''' depend on the genre, but several factors can manipulate what review score you'll get, while the needs of the sliders are just one of those factors. Another factor is the topic & genre combo that you've chosen. This is critical, and if a bad combination is made it will not allow you to get '''above average (=>5), and most likely depending on your character's skill level, will make you go below average (=<4). Tests conducted show that if you repeat the same type of game, even if there is a little variety by doing one genre, then doing another, and then going back to the same genre; it will still count as being repetitive, and will lead you into an average or most likely a below average (=<4) score. If you repeat the same genre without any variety, it will also be pointed out to you that fans don't like your company for money-whoring the same game over and over again, instead of releasing an awesome variety of games for your fans to enjoy. The hypothesis made by Rollersteaam (talk) 13:43, April 16, 2013 (UTC), details the fact that there is a 100% chance regardless of perfecting each factor, you will always get a below average (=<4) score if you repeat the same game. Having extremely high scores for the Technology and Design bubbles will increase sales, but will not improve review scores. Tested at various levels with save file editing. Design Focus Design sliders allow the player to control the time allocation for the various aspects of the project. The higher a slider is set to with respect to others, the more allotted time it will receive during development, which can be previewed at the bottom bar of the game development screen. Allocating sliders has two main consequences: - Allocating certain thresholds of allotted time to certain fields can increase or decrease game quality - Amount of Design and Technology points added to the game during development is proportional to the time allocated to relevant part (for example, allocating more time to Engine will give more Tech points, while allocating more time to Story/Quests will give more Design points) Game quality and correct Tech/Design balance (exact value you must aim for is based on the chosen genre) is very important during rating calculation. To maximize the quality of your game, you should follow these guidelines: - At least twice allocate >40% of the allotted time to a field with + - Never allocate <20% of the allotted time to a field with + - Never allocate >40% of the allotted time to a field with - For getting maximum "points" (for review score) out of your Tech/Design balance, you must land in the 25% margin around the ideal balance for your genre (or genre combination). Being closer to ideal balance than that has no extra effect. For example, Action game should have its final Tech divided by its Design fall between values of 1.35 to 2.25 inclusive (+-25% of 1.8). So, to sum it all up, you should allocate your sliders like this: - Look at the table below and note balance goal and fields with pluses/minuses for your chosen genre (or combo) - Make sure you assign over 40% allotted time to a "+" field at least twice during whole development process - Make sure you never allocate <20% to a "+" or >40% to a "-" during whole development process - Aside from that, assign sliders accordingly in order to finish inside the margin of 25% around the Tech/Design balance goal for your genre (or combo) Remember, it is the bottom composite bar consisting of three parts (located under the sliders) that is important, not how much percentage you assign to each slider individually. All those 40%'s and 20%'s refer to the relative size of the field's part on the bottom bar. The following tables are based on the raw game data. For multi-genre combinations, the values are weighted with the first chosen genre being twice as important as the second one. Refer to the raw game data for more information. The point of multi-genres is too eliminate a genre's requirements, giving you more flexibility with what features to cram in. For example, Strategy/Adventure and Strategy/RPG has only 3 "+" fields and everything else is not bound by rules, while if you'd be making Strategy or RPG, you'd have 6 "+" fields and 1 "-" field to worry about, therefore, multi-genre gives you more creative freedom when you combine genres properly. Best to keep it to large and AAA games only, though - as at the lower levels the added freedom, it doesn't really give more options. Specialization Training To specialize in a specific slider you will need to meet required levels of design and technology. This can also serve as a guide for which employees to use for each slider. Great games need employees focused on either design or technology, as well as employees with a good balance of both. Save your well balanced employees for phase #3. Topic/Genre combinations During the prep phase of game development the player chooses what type of game to develop. A big part of this is to chose the game's topic and genre. The combination of topic and genre can result in either a "Great Combo" or a "Strange Combo". Getting a great combo does not guarantee good reviews. The combo modifier is only a factor in the final score. Single Genre Combos This list is based of raw data in the game engine. Note: These are combos that result in a "Great Combo" modifier on the experience screne. Multi-Genre Combos The only way to get a "Great Combo" for multi-genre games is to use two genres that when used on their own with the chosen topic result in a "Great Combo". This means that topics like Surgery can not get "Great Combo" on multi-genre games. -source Genre choice Each genre has its own popularity on each platform. Your choice of genre, relative to platform, does not effect the review score, it does however effect the number of sales your game will generate. Based off Raw Data. ''Best choices for each genre are '''bold and underlined Target audience choice You will occasionally get messages about matches or mismatches of target audience and platform you have chosen. Your choice of audience does not effect the review score, it does however effect the number of sales your game will generate. '''''Based off Raw Data. Category:Results Optimization